Rubber lined bottle caps



July 8, 1958 w, GElsLER 2,841,863

RUBBER LINED BOTTLE CAPS med June 15, 1954 1 s sheets-sheet 1 NVENToR.42 F/G. 2/ W/y//bm @afs/ef BY Em@ 2m11.mm 1,1%/

A//Urneys `W. GEISLER RUBBER LINED BOTTLE CAPS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 www?INVENTOR. W/'l//am Ge/'s/er HY n @@M, wail/)mrs f77/J Afforneys July 8,1958 Filed June 15, 1954 VII July 8, 1958 w. GElsLl-:R 2,841,853

RUBBER LINED BOTTLE CAPS Filed June l5, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 vINVENTOR. 32 M//Y//am Geisler BY @W41 LLM Mg/Rmvlya/ A f/orneys UnitedStates Patent() RUBBER LINED BOTTLE CAPS William Geisler, Tenaiiy, N.J., assignor to Wilbro Corporation, Maywood, N. J., a corporation of NewJersey Application June 15, 1954, Serial No. 436,822 4 Claims. (Cl.29-413) This invention relates to a method for making bottle caps, andmore particularly to improvements in the method described in myco-pending application Ser. No. 410,584, iiled February 16, 1954, nowPatent No. 2,777,411.

In the above mentioned application I have disclosed a method andapparatus for making the conventional crown caps which are usedextensively for closures for bottles containing beer and othercarbonated beverages.

The invention of the present application relates to the rubber stopperis separate from the metal cap and has to be applied by hand to thebottles to maintain complete sterility, and after being so stoppered byhand the bottles must then be sealed with the metal cap, which may bedone by bottle capping machines. The procedure thus involves four steps:the making of the bottle cap, the making of the rubber stopper, theapplication of the rubber stopper by hand under sterile conditions, andfinally the bottle capping operation. By the improved procedureconstituting the invention of this application the combined rubber andmetal closure is made at one operation by fully automatic machines, thecombined stopper being of such character that its application to thebottle may be carried out by conventional automatic bottle cappingmachinery.

My improved procedure makes a much tighter and safer seal for the bottlefor the reason that the rubber stopper is securely vulcanized to theinner face of the metal cap and is applied to the bottle under thepressure ofthe capping machine instead of by hand.

My invention also involves a modified form of closure for bottles foriluids for hypodermic administration which is both cheaper and betterthan the conventional closure.

My invention also embodies a modification of my prior process whereinthe metal portion of the cap is so constructed that the cap, althoughapplied in such manner as to provide a tight seal for carbonatedbeverages, may be readily removed by hand without the conventionalbottle opener. This modified form of closure is'also made by completelyautomatic machinery and is of a character to be applied by conventionalbottle capping machines.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the successive stepsperformed in carrying out each of the threermoditied procedures, and inthe said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the metal sheet ICC from which themetal caps for the conventional stopper for bottles for iiuids forhypodermic administration are made.

Fig. 2 is a section of a `portion of the extrusion press with the partsassembled Iready for the extrusion operation;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are similar views showing the successive steps of theextrusion operation;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a section of the metal sheet with theStoppers vulcanized thereto;

Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views in section showing the shaping ofthe metal cap;

Fig. 9 is a perspective'view partlybroken away showing the finished cap;t

Fig. 10 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the mold formaking Ia modified form of the closure of Fig. 9;

Fig. 1l is a perspective view partially broken away of the modiiied formof closure;

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the sheet used for making a tear-strip closurefor carbonated beverages;

Fig. 13 is `a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing the shape of themold for the tear-strip closure;

Figs. l4and l5 are diagrammatic views in section Y showing the cutting,scoring and shaping operations;

Fig. 16 is a plan view of the closure after the cutting and scoringoperations but before the shaping operation;

Fig. 17 is a section on line 17-17 of Fig. 15;

Fig. 18 is an elevational view partly in section showing the closureapplied to the bottle; and

Figs. 19, 20 and 21 are detail views showing a moditied form oftear-strip closure. i

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Figs. l to 5, 1 indicates thebottom plate of the molding press which is similar to the pressdescribed in my abo'vementioned co-pending application except in minorparticulars which will be later described. 2 represents the upper plateof the press wherein cavities 3 are formed of the shape desired for themolded rubber stopper and entrance ports 4 for the rubber to the molds,said ports being of the same tapered conguration as the ports in mypreviously filed application with the smallest diameter of the taper atthe top wall of the cavity 3, whereby, when the stripper plate 5 whichoverlies theY die-forming plate 2 is elevated, the rubber compound willbreak away from the rubber in the mold at the junction of the mold andthe entrance port.

The stripper plate 5 forms the bottom plate of the extruson press, whichplate is formed with ports 6 registering with the ports 4 in the uppermold plate. The upper face of the stripper plate 5 is provided aroundits perimeter with upstanding flanges 7 to confine the sheet of rubberor other -rnolding compound which is forced by the press member 8through the registering ports 4 and 6 into the molds.

The molded stopper here shown is of the same shape as the conventionalseparate rubber stopper used for closures of this kind, that is to say,it has a portion '10 which projects into the neck of the bottle when thestopper is applied and a head 11 which covers the neck of the bottle andfills the metal cap 1-2 when the latter is applied. The neck portion ofthe stopper is recessed on the under -side to reduce the thickness ofthe middle portion of the stopper through which lthe physician thrustshis needle. The cap 12 is the conventional cap of sheet aluminum whichis in th-e present day procedure applied to the stoppered bottles in asealing machine, which spins the downwardly projecting margin of thestopper under the ange at the top of neck of `the 'bottle inthe usualmanner.

To facilitate the use of thebottle by the physician the 3 middle portionof the capis cut and scored in the manner shown so -that the physicianmay without tools bend up an edge of the cut and scored central part anddetach it from the bottle, leaving a small portion of the rubber stopperexposed sothatthe hypodermic needle may be thrust through the rubberstopper without removing the rest of the closure from the bottle.

iIn adaptingfthe method ot manufacture described in my priorapp-lication to the manufacture of this type of bottle closure, thebottom plate 1 of the mold is provided with spaced circular recesses 13of a size to receive the central cut and vscored portion of the cap sothat the scored vportion will `not be flattened down bythe pressure ofthe rub'ber against the area surrounding the central portion. VByproviding these recesses 13 in the bottom plate of the mold the flatmetal of the plate surrounding the central scored'portion lies flatagainst lthe metal of the mold and consequently prevents any extrusionof rulbber through the slits in the scored portion and between the metalof the cap and the yface of the mold. As stated in my above-mentionedapplication, the rubber forming the 'bottle closure is vulcanized firmlyto the face of the metal plate at 'the same time that the rubbercompound itself is vulcanized. This may vbe done by placing the sheets,after they are removed from the press in the usual mann-er in an oven ortunnel at vuln canizing temperatures for the required period of time.

The usual procedure as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is followed in making thebottle caps from the sheets to which th-e Stoppers are applied as abovedescribed. The shaping plunger 15 is `shaped at its end to fit the upperface of the lbottle stopper and its extending flange. The pressurerequired for shaping the aluminum disk is such that the rubber stopperwill transmit the force of the plunger necessary to shape the capWithout significant compression.

The plunger 15 is surrounded by a cylindrical knife 16` which cuts outthe `disks of aluminum in advance of the shaping operation so that whenthe plunger thrusts a c ap and attached m-etal disk into the die 17 abottle closure will be formed of the conventional shape now employed butwith rubber portion held in place by the adhesion of the kmolded rubberto the metal.

It will vbe understood that in practice the presses used are gangpresses which at one operation shape as many caps as can 'be made of asingle sheet.

The *bottle closures so made may be applied to the bottles by the samemachine as now used for placing the aluminum caps over the previouslystoppered bottles and spinning the ange beneath the llange of the neckof the bottle. The exterior dimensions of the caps with the rubberStoppers inside are the same as the caps without such Stoppers and asthe caps are placed over -the Stoppers by a downward movement of thecap, the same movement will, in placing the Stoppers over the bottlenecks, cause the middle stopper portion of the rubber to enter the neckof the bottle into which it is forced by the plunger which holds the capon `the bottle during the spinning operation.

In Figs. 10 and 1v1 I have shown a modied form of clos-ure for bottlescontaining uids for hypodermic administration wherein the metal ca-p,`instead of having a middle lportion cut and scored for easy removal, isformed with a central hole of approximately the same diameter as theremovable piece. IThese holes 2% are punched in the aluminum sheetbefore the rubber cap is applied so that when the rubber portion ismolded onto the face of the sheet the rubber will extend into the holeas shown more particularly in Fig. 10. The rubber portion may on itsexposed side *be of the same yshape as in the previously describedstructure wherein a stopper to project the neck of the lbottle isprovided. Instead, an entirely satisfactory seal is obtained with lessrubber by providing the rubber closure with a marginal flange 21 whichis pressed against the neck of the bottle by the bottle cap machine andthere held `when the llower edge ofthe cap is spun beneath the tlange onthe bottle neck.

As the top surface of the bottle cap when so made is flat with theexposed rubber flush with the surrounding metal it can be renderedsterile by wiping off with alcohol or otherwise when used by thephysician more readily than the conventionall closure where thesurrounding metal overlies the exposed face of the rubber but is notattached to it 4so that there are unsterile surfaces of the metal andrubber surrounding the exposed portion of the rubber, which surfaces arediflcu'lt to sterilize.

In Figs. 1248, inclusive, I have shown a modification of the process asadapted to the manufacture of caps for 'beverage bottles and cans of theso-called tear-strip type. For making s-uch closures a sheet of aluminum2li is employed of the same character as used in making the previouslydescribed closure. The portions of the sheet Whichform the .tops of thebottle closures may be previously embossed or otherwise marked with thename of the beverage or other desired legend. The extrusion press usedfor molding the rubber disks onto the face of the plate is of the samestructure as that shown in Fig. l0, but with the individual moldssomewhat more widely spaced to provide a flange of metal of greaterldiameter around the rubber disks as necessary to t over the flangesofthe conventional beverage bottles and cans. The molds are also spacedto provide for the projecting end 25 of the tear-strip tobe cut from themetal 'between the closures.

After the rubber disks are molded onto the face of the aluminum sheetthe sheet'is placed in a gang punch for simultaneously cutting out themetal for the caps and shaping them around the rubber disk forapplication to the Ybottle neck. One of the punches used for thispurpose is diagrammatically shown in Figs. 14 and 15 and comprises inaddition to the shaping plunger 26, a cutting knife 27 and intermediatescoring knife 28 which operates simultaneously with the cutting knife 27to score a ring almost completely around the rubber disk, as indicatedat 29,l Fig. 16, and also a short connecting score line 30 between theannular score line 29 and one edge of the tear stripextension 25. Afterthe disks are cut and scored as indicated, the lforming plunger 31 whoseend is shaped to conform with the rubber disk forces the metal disk withthe attached rubber disk into the die 32 to shape the cap in the mannershown.

In Fig. 18 the tear strip cap is shown as applied to the conventionalbeverage bottle. The lower edge of the metal flange surrounding therubber gasket is spun under the flange on the bottle neck with theextension 25 of the tear strip extending downwardly along the neck ofthe bottle where it may be readily grasped with the fingers and pulledaway from the bottle neck, which movement causes the cap to tear alongthe score line 29, thereby detaching the closure from the bottle neck.As shown, the score line 251 does not extend quite all the way aroundthe cap, but a short portion is lleft Unscored as indicated at 33adjacent the juncture of the score lines 29 and 30. Whenthe score line29 is torn throughout more than three-quarters the circumference of thebottle the cap as a whole may be readily dislodged, whereas if the scoreline is torn throughout the entire circumference, as it might be with aquick jerk on the tear strip extension, the middle part of the cap willbe blown off the bottle by the force of the carbonated beverage.

In Figs. 19, 20 and 21 I have illustrated a somewhat modified form ofclosure wherein the rubber stopper feature of the closure shown in Figs.l to 9, inclusive, is combined with the tear strip feature of thestopper shown in Figs. l2 to 18, inclusive, to provide a replaceablestopper for use as a closure for the bottle or can should the contentsbe not consumed at one time. As shown here, the rubber stopper 40 whichis extrusion molded and vulcanized to the base sheet 42 is generallyofthe shape shown in Fig. 9, the stopper portion being somewhat extendedto fully close the neck of the bottle and lit tightly enough to serve asa leak-proof stopper for the bottle after the removable portion 43 ofthe cap is detached. The metal portion of the cap is of the same shapeas that `shown in Fig. 4 except that the score line 29 extendsthroughout the entire circumference of the cap so that when the bottleis opened by pulling on the tear strip the lower portion of the metalcap will be entirely removed, leaving the rubber stopper in place withits upper portion covered by a tightly tting metal cap firmly vulcanizedthereto.

The stopper of this construction may be used for all manner of liquids.It provides a tight seal which cannot be opened in the rst instancewithout destroying the seal but at the same time provides after the sealis broken a neat, tightly tting, easily removable stopper for retainingthe contents of the bottle until consumed.

A stopper of this form is particularly useful in connection with cans ofthe type which are now sealed with the conventional Crown cap. Theinternal pressure of the contents tends to expand the depending flangeof the stopper outwardly beneath the bottom edge of the neck in suchmanner as to increase the resistance of the stopper to withdrawal sothat the re-stoppered can will remain tight even though the containedliquid has a substantial degree of remaining effervescence.

In the foregoing specification I have described several modifications ofmy method of making bottle caps and the resulting caps, but it is to beunderstood that my invention is not limited to the procedures andstructures disclosed except insofar as recited in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a bottle closure which consists in scoring athin metal sheet with a series of scored areas spaced from each other toprovide a surrounding metal area greater than the overall area of thebottle closure, placing said sheet in a mold member, placing over saidmold member a second mold member having recesses registering with saidscored areas and shaped to form a bottle closure having an annular outerportion of a diameter to tit against the neck of the bottle, said moldmember having a passage extending from the mold cavity to the uppersurface of the mold member for the passage of molding compound to bemolded therein, placing a third member over said second-mentionedmember, said third member having passages registering with thefirst-mentioned passages, forcing the molding composition through saidpassage while retaining said three mold members against relativemovement, elevating said third mold member to separate the moldingcomposition in said passage from the molded bottle closure, andthereafter cutting from `said sheet disks of metal with the moldedbottle closure attached thereto and] shaping said disks to provide metalflanges of a width to be spun under the flange on the neck of the bottleto be closed.

2. The method of claim l wherein the first-mentioned mold member hasrecesses positioned to underlie the scored areas of said sheet.

3. The method of claim l wherein the cavities in the second mold memberare shaped to provide a stopper portion to tit within the neck of thebottle.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the scoring consists of a circular lineand a radial line extending from the circular line and the subsequentlycut disk is concentric with said circular line with a radial tab havingone edge aligned with said radial line.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS436,638 Taylor Sept. 16, 1890 1,832,321 Owens Nov. 17, 1931 1,989,739Meyer Feb. 21, 1933 1,995,256 Raworth Mar. 19, 1935 2,184,281 Clark Dec.26, 1939 2,322,885 Rogers June 29, 1943 2,492,144 Goro Dec. 27, 19492,516,647 Rogers et al July 25, 1950 2,520,259 Pummill Aug. 29, 19502,543,775 Goro Mar. 6, 1951 2,743,506 Solow May l, 1956

